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Monday, 19 November 2012

As you may have realised by my previous posts, I LOVE Lady V London's dresses. Recently on their Facebook page they announced the arrival of the new Wiggle dresses, a prospect that filled me with sheer joy!

The Lady V Wiggle dress comes in 7 colours and 3 different prints in sizes 8-20/22. It costs £40, or £30-£40 at the time of writing this since it's on offer. I opted for the Red/White Polka Dot and the White/Black Polka Dot as they popped out to me most. As for the sizes, my measurements are; bust 36", waist 26.5, hips 38" so I ordered sizes 8 and 10 in both colours to ensure I didn't miss out on the introductory offer. Here's the size chart for this particular dress:

Two days later a pink package arrived containing the lovely dresses! My first observation was that the red isn't a bright poppy red but more of a wine red, which isn't what I was expecting, but is really nice nonetheless. The dresses are of a nice quality and don't feel like they'd fall apart or lose their shape easily.

The fabric of the skirt part is quite a thick, quality stretch cotton/elastane mix and designed to cling to your curves, but does seem to be prone to creasing. The top part (the patterned bit) is made from a non-stretch viscose so I wasn't sure how the fit would work out on a fuller bust. The other design feature I was worried about was the 'apex' between the bust, which creates a kind of cupped dress. I've always steered clear of this sort of feature as all women have differently sized boobs, so I think a lot of women might not look quite right in these dresses as a result. A more preferable design in my opinion would be to have a high waisted design without the bit between the boobs. Something like this. I've added the collar and bow using my amazing MS Paint skills, but you get the idea! The original dress is from Ebay, apologies but I can't find the listing now!

The 'apex'

As I said before, I ordered both size 8s and 10s to try and find the perfect fit. The 8 fitted better in the body, if not a little more snug than I feel comfortable in but the top part of the dress was too small, hence the mega cleavage. The 10 was perfect at the top but too big at the bottom, which you can clearly see in the photos below. This problem could easily have be solved by a minor and relatively simple alteration.

The one thing I noticed when I laid them flat was how 'hippy' these dresses are, making them ideal for those curvier ladies who don't go straight up and down. If I were to have kept one, it definitely would have been the white/black polka dot dress in a 10 and have it tailored to fit.

White/Black Polka Dot:

Red/White Polka Dot:

Be warned, the plunging neckline is not for the faint of heart and exposes lots of skin (and cleavage if you're busty). You'll need to wear a balcony bra, such as Curvy Kate's Tease Me or Masquerade's Rhea for the bra not to be seen. In my photos I'm wearing a Freya Deco plunge bra that I had to fold to make the cups less visible (you can see them in the red dress) and a shapewear 'Wear Your Own Bra' (WYOB) slip from Primark's Secret Possessions range to smooth out my silhouette.

I love the pin up style of the wiggle dress and the fact that it has a wide collared neckline, polka dot pattern, high waist and a bow really pushes my buttons. The 'apex' I discussed is something I would normally have overlooked for such a nice dress but I can't really afford another at the moment, so I've had to send them all back, sorry Lady V...I'll always accept gifts y'know ;)

Apologies for the break in blog posts, I've recently stopped spending so much on clothes and lingerie on account of paying for my Maldivian holiday next month! Thankfully, the lovely folks at Gossard sent me another set to review, so I didn't have to spend a penny! Phew!

I was sent the Retrolution set of the half padded bra (£36) in my 'sister size' of 30G with a waist cincher (£40) in a large, but neither fitted. In the bra the cups run small, as does the band, so ideally a 30GG or 30H would have fitted, but sadly Gossard don't produce bras above a G cup. The large cincher was too big all round, so I returned the set for a 32G and a medium cincher.

The Retrolution range boasts tags saying 'VIP' which instantly makes you feel you're getting something special, and the 'hardwear' is in a striking shade of rose gold as opposed to the usual silver.

Each design in the range has high quality lace panels combined with a stretch satin type fabric, again of a high quality. The Waist Cincher benefits particularly from the stretch satin as it really holds it's shape and can help smooth out any lumps and bumps. The little details and stitching add to the 'VIP' feel of the range.

The back of the bra features the classic Gossard gate back, which I love, and a nice thick band of hooks and eyes as you can see here. Great for support in larger cups.

So, how did it fit? Well, it could be better. The bra, as I said was a 32G, a far cry from my 'real' size of 28GG which meant the back was on the large size, but not so much that it would cause any major issues. It fitted more like a 30G, so I'd recommend going up a back size but keeping your cup size the same as it runs small in the cup. The coverage of the bra is full and not something I'd normally go for, but is certainly something I'd wear as there's no risk of any spillage from the centre of the cups like I usually experience in plunge bras. I will need to take the band in a little to get the perfect fit, but I must say, this bra does seem to be a very wearable day-to-day bra.

The waist cincher was ideal for me in the butt in a medium, but an inch or so too big in the waist. This is perfectly understandable as not everybody is as curvy as me, with my waist measurement of 26.5" and hips at their widest at 38". The cincher could really work as decent shapewear on someone with more 'normal' curves I'm sure. I wouldn't recommend wearing this under a slinky dress as the seams are relatively bulky so you'd get a VPL.

So you want to know how it looks, right? Here you go!

Admittedly I wouldn't have bought this set as I like a PERFECT fit and something I know I'll wear regularly, and the price is a little more than I'd pay at £76 for the set. The thing I loved about this set is that it really hit the spot in making me feel like a Retro Goddess. I teamed it with seamed stockings and black heels (not seen) and felt every inch the Pin-Up, see?!